mid-week musings
karen klucowicz • Sep 14, 2021
Deep thoughts, inspiring ideas, creative considerations.
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Birthday Sparks
Button"Purity"
Not just a pretty flower... "My work is my way of processing thoughts and emotions, while challenging a perfectionistic inner voice." Alex Swirski, artist
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Fashion Magazine
Button"Quiescence"
"...mentally astray from a daily routine to provide a scope of alternating visual stimulation and experience." Jill Birks, artist
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Blurred Lines
Button"what if"
"...inner strength that is not always readily apparent until we are challenged to negotiate or handle a situation." Karen Klucowicz, artist
Is art important? Absolutely. If we don’t share our stories, ideas and present them, how will we grow as people, as a community, as an idea on our planet?
sharing stories connects us
I love investigating concepts in art. I feel anything created must be done with intent and sharing that story can be as important as doing the work itself. Will everyone respond to it? No. Does that matter? No. People acknowledge, respond and let ideas in to their lives through art that they need, when they receive it. This applies across the disciplines - writing, performance, visual arts...
I think that’s why I love installation, street and conceptual art - often temporary in nature, the ideas put forward are like thoughts - we have them, we consider them, we let them go or we act on them.
ideas are temporary in nature
In the summer exhibition of the studio, we have an installation by Métis artist Tracey-Mae Chambers. She has undertaken an incredible project this summer across Hamilton - actually across Ontario - and I think it will be in demand well beyond this season. The message is important and the work created - while visually pleasing and impactful - gives people pause to think about the "why" and how relevant it is.
"The string is red to illustrate the connectivity between humans and their environment and between each other. This is the perfect time for this as we hover on the cusp of opening up our city/country/world. The installations are intended to open up a community dialogue about our lost connectivity to one another during the pandemic. Although I question how connected people really were to the environment or to each other before the whole world locked down. Maybe that's the discussion. How do we reach out to one another now that this is hopefully coming to an end?" tracey-mae chambers
[Sidenote
don't forget to recognize our
National Day for Truth and Reconciliation September 30th
— there's more info on that here: https://www.blogto.com/city/2021/09/sept-30 ]
I realize not everyone wants to take the time and energy it can take to consider artwork but I encourage you to do so at some time. I assure you that you will appreciate the work more - whether or not you “like” it. Taking your time with a piece of art invites responses — it can be a laugh, a tear or a straight out dismissal. Consider the work that goes in to it - not just the physical endeavour (the install above took about 8hours!) but the thought process through to delivery. Your level of awareness can be enlightening. For instance, next time you see some street art really look at it, read the messages, recognize the content. Street art is a great gauge on area inhabitants, political climate and current events. I'm not talking about tagging, I'm talking about visual stories our communities present to us. The piece below is one I've driven by several times and it strikes me how relevant it is as our pandemic roller coaster persists and the other has a full story so relevant today.
You are encountering art all the time whether or not you recognize that. Look at some of these pieces CBC Arts wrote on playful art in Toronto - you must check it out - there are some very cool things happening out there and you should experience them. [ https://www.cbc.ca/arts/ ] And they are an experience !
Come and have this conversation directly with us - meet the artists in our current show, see the art, learn about the art experiences you can participate in. Join us for our open studio September 26, 2021 11am-4pm (timed entry please book ahead).
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